Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to promote green skills programmes as part of the national skills strategy in Huddersfield.

Green skills are crucial to economic growth and the government’s net zero by 2050 target. Clean energy industries have been identified as a priority sector in the Industrial Strategy, alongside other sectors fundamental to clean energy like advanced manufacturing.

Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) are employer-led plans setting out priorities to better meet local skills needs. LSIPs must consider the skills needed to meet net zero, climate adaptation, and wider environmental goals. The West Yorkshire LSIP identifies clean energy and green construction as priority sectors. West Yorkshire’s Local Growth Plan reinforces the green economy as a local priority, embedding sustainability as a core principle and setting out actions to achieve net zero.

The government will set out a comprehensive strategy for post-16 education and skills later this year, including steps to strengthen the skills pipeline in key sectors. The strategy will set out how the skills system will support the delivery of the Plan for Change.